


Let's Repeat History

by CreamMoon



Series: Bottom Arthur Fest 2019 [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Anal Sex, Dom/sub Undertones, Dragonlord Merlin (Merlin), Friends to Lovers, Frottage, M/M, Sex Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-05 08:30:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18824974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreamMoon/pseuds/CreamMoon
Summary: “Pay up, I won the bet.”“I knew it was a mistake to sign that treaty.” Arthur muttered, narrowing his eyes as he stared down at what lay upon the table.“I told you and you wouldn’t believe me. Read it and weep, sire.” Perhaps he could wring his neck to get him to shut up, the sing-song tone he was affecting making the King want to toss him out the window.





	Let's Repeat History

“Pay up, I won the bet.”

“I knew it was a mistake to sign that treaty.” Arthur muttered, narrowing his eyes as he stared down at what lay upon the table.

“I told you and you wouldn’t believe me. Read it and weep, sire.” Perhaps he could wring his neck to get him to shut up, the sing-song tone he was affecting making the King want to toss him out the window.

“You could’ve fabricated that text-“

"Replicating the age on the papers?" The infernal man cut in, voice bright. "The quality of the ink? _Far_ too much effort, even if it would be worth it to see you so taken aback for a mere laugh."

"Forgive me if I find it hard to believe that my lineage was employed to... 'warm' the bed of your's." Arthur replied dryly, eyebrow twitching as displeasure ate at him.

"Come now, don't look so sour!" Merlin, heir to all that was Dragonlord, said with a widening grin, eyes sparkling with mischief as he leaned in. "It obviously put your family into a place of ample power... Though it's unlikely that they were as powerful as they were when they had my ancestors entranced with their... wiles."

Arthur swatted at him to clear the irksome warlock from his space, shooting Merlin an aggravated look. Beneficial or not, this peace treaty only extended so far. He was well within his rights to put the gangly bastard over his knee and slap the smug out of him. Though, after this conversation Arthur wasn't so certain that Merlin wouldn't relish it.

***

Dragonlords, the descendants of Dragons and Men, were a presence that his Father had maligned in the years since Arthur was born. Uther had spoke of them as unclean abominations that would use their demonic powers to command Dragon and Man alike, using them as boogeymen when Arthur was just a boy. Though his Father had never cleared up just what they would do with such powers the idea alone of someone manipulating his will was enough to give the young Prince nightmares of becoming some scaley-handed magician's puppet.

Dragons of course were at the beck and call of a Dragonlord. Blood called to blood, so to speak; a connection supposedly there at the heart that their magic could manipulate. But Man, it seemed, was not so broadly chained. It seemed all of his Father's fears were solely in the interest of their family and their family _alone_.

The Pendragon lineage, or in days of yore the "Penn Draig" line, intermingled heavily with the Dragonlord leadership. It was really putting the "pen" part of their name to the task, though Merlin's assertion that they had all been bed warmers was thankfully not an accurate thing. There had been a fair few of his family that had served in adviser and confidant positions, handmaidens and squires... All respectable ways to be an outlet for the whims of such people.

But still, there were more records of the consensual command that the Dragonlords held over the Penn Draigs than the tamer vocations. Arthur couldn't even picture serving in a normal capacity, let alone in the bedroom...

With the revealing literature his ally had so generously bestowed Arthur was getting a clearer picture of just _why_ his Father had been convinced of their command of Man. It would've been within Uther's lifetime to have seen just how enamored their family had been with the Ambrosiuses, one of the last entries into the Dragonlord's long history involving the Pendragon lineage being Arthur's great aunt wedding Merlin's grandmother. It gave him a headache trying to parse just how that might've happened, the brief summation of how Merlin's grandmother's marriage had been dissolved filling in the rest of the space on the final filled page.

Pressing a hand over his eyes he took a slow, fortifying breath in and then flipped back to the beginning. Embarrassing as it was to think along these lines he had to admit it was intriguing seeing so much lost history, the context it gave alone worth the mild discomfort he faced.

***

Unfortunately with the seed planted in his mind the thought of Merlin being any sort of available toward him became a more attractive thought by the day. 

Merlin had been in his employ for close to ten years when things were finally all brought out into the open. He had been a spy for his people in the interim, chaotic days of his Father's reign when there was no telling what would happen, staying close to the royal family that had served them before Uther's genocidal campaign.

Once Merlin had thrown off the guise of clumsy manservant and shown his hand, Arthur had unfortunately still trusted him despite how much it irked him, making Merlin return home to await any sort of answer as punishment for his deceit. Aside from that, Arthur had needed to clear his head more than anything with his Father newly buried and his sister still far afield. Her decision to elope with her handmaiden hadn't been any sort of surprising to Arthur, but the revelation of her magic had been a whole other thing to digest.

So now that they were on a level playing field Arthur could see himself quite clearly with Merlin at his side. It was driving him to distraction day after day, a longing he dared not voice. He had far too many busybodies in his life to risk someone hearing of this horrible affliction.

***

Waving the parchment beneath Merlin’s nose he couldn't keep from smirking, pulling it back out of reach just as the warlock grabbed for it. “Lord Merlin Pendragon? King Arthur Ambrosius? Really _Mer_ lin? And aren’t the hearts just a _bit_ much?”

Merlin was closing in on turning into a tomato with how red he’d gotten, magic suddenly ripping the parchment from the King’s fingers. Wrinkling his nose at the sight of the juvenile scrawl he folded the paper until it was a tiny thing before stashing it in his jacket pocket. “Oh shut up, I was a _child_. You were barely walking when I wrote that gobbledegook.”

Arthur snorted at that but believed it; Merlin’s scrawl had been shaky and infantile on the parchment, something he’d found wedged between the pages of that infernal book he’d been loaned. “Wasn’t that book a little above your reading comprehension?”

“I was very quick for my age.” Merlin replied with a slight bite to it, his blush barely having subsided. “I was a little bleeding heart. I had the ridiculous notion that all that was very romantic. I couldn’t help but get a bit carried away. I surely wouldn’t have used your name for such a thing if I’d known what a god awful prat you were.”

“Would Morgana have suited your fancy better?” Arthur teased, unable to resist finally being able to have Merlin on the back foot. The other man blanched at the question, shaking his head vigorously.

“For goodness sake don’t even _joke_ about that. I’m very grateful for her having been the catalyst to-“ The warlock paused and then gestured vaguely around them. “-all this, but I hardly would want her hand for causing it.”

Morgana’s drastic estrangement had been what had pushed Arthur into repealing the magic ban. The years of fear of magic being groomed into him were broken down at the prospect of losing the only person who actually had cared about him. The claws of Uther’s influence crumbled before his love of his sister.

“So do you still want _my_ hand? Since Morgana is so appalling, I mean.”

Merlin just smacked at Arthur’s arm for asking, making the King grin widely. “You’re such a lout! A cur! Who taught you to be this loathsome!?”

***

"Feeling pensive lately?" Morgana asked over dinner one night, sounding deceptively nonchalant. "Has your light reading gotten too much for you?"

It took a moment or two for the King's mind to catch up, Arthur slowly looking up at her with a fear he hadn't felt for a while burning in his chest. Morgana gave him a little, self-satisfied smirk as she reached for her goblet. The silence was deafening until his sister-in-law cleared her throat awkwardly and promptly excused herself, leaving Arthur woefully alone with Morgana. How could Guinevere betray him like this? And Gods above and below why did Morgana have to be so damn nosy?

When he failed to respond quickly enough Morgana continued the conversation on her own, idly swirling her wine in her goblet as she looked Arthur over with a keen eye. "I've been doing some light reading of my own. Merlin was kind enough to lend me some books from his library. Fascinating stuff, really, finding out just where our family came from."

Her wind up was making him begin to sweat but he wouldn't take the bait, Arthur just raising his eyebrow at the statement as he took a sip from his own goblet.

"I'm not sure I buy into being part lizard myself, but it seems like something that those more superstitious would just eat up."

Oh that was a mistake, taking the drink, the King struggling to swallow. He coughed hard once the liquid had been choked down, looking sharply up at his sister. "What?"

"The Penn Draig line is a line of imprisoned dragons, apparently. That is, if you can consider humanity to be a prison. Seems a little too abstract for me." Morgana was playing Arthur's last nerve like a fiddle, the King already extremely reticent about speaking of their family's most prominent vocation with her. He'd been actively avoiding even thinking of it, in fact, for fear of Morgana somehow finding out and then voicing her opinions about the sexual proclivities of their great great great grandparents.

He couldn't decide if the prospect of being some kind of beast walking around in men's clothes was a more palatable topic.

"Why, what did you think I was going to talk about, brother dearest?" She asked, her saccharine tone making him wish he'd never invited the two to dine with him that night. Morgana was mocking him, damn it all, and he would not be mocked!! He was too old for her to tease him like this!!

"Oh, I don't know, perhaps not completely mad things?" Arthur groaned, pressing his face against one hand as he put down his goblet with the other. "Should I expect to sprout scales, then? Or horns?"

"Oh, am I the only one with scales?" Morgana asked, feigning surprise.

"I should think so since you're the only demon creeping around the castle." He grunted, earning a laugh out of her. The sound made him want to smile despite how tetchy he was, Arthur turning his face further into his hand to keep from giving her even the littlest bit of positive feedback. "You might as well grow some horns to match."

***

"So I'm not the only one you loaned literature to, hm?"

"What, are we supposed to be exclusive?" Merlin asked, his lilting tone belying his mischief making. His smirk looks kissable and that terrifies Arthur utterly as he gives him the driest look he can manage in the state he's in. He's started to feel gooey and warm in the Dragonlord's presence and though he knows he's well and truly done for he still prefers to resist; a King shouldn't melt at the first sign of love.

"While she has a right to know, I would've much rather broken the news to her myself that our illustrious family lineage consisted of a bunch of part dragon harlots."

That got a laugh out of Merlin, the older man leaning on the edge of Arthur's desk as he looked down at the King. " _Well_ , when you put it that way, it _does_ sound a little scandalous."

"She is never going to let me hear the end of it, Merlin." Arthur complained, shoving on him gently, for once not actually trying to bowl the warlock over. "She keeps asking if I've grown any scales yet! Or how my horns are coming in!" Taking a deep breath in he pointed a finger at the chuckling bastard. "The other day she magicked up some devilry and gave herself a forked tongue!"

That had Merlin in instant stitches, the dark haired man throwing his head back with the strength of his guffaws. "My! The Crown Princess is certainly enthusiastic about her heritage to go so far! You should be proud that she's reveling in tradition!"

"Reveling in- You- You!!" Arthur made a disgusted noise and then actually shoved the warlock, sending him stumbling. The bastard was still giggling like a madman, ending up catching himself just in time to steady himself against the post of Arthur's bed. "You're just eating this up!"

"I am!" Merlin cackled, scrunching his nose in a cute manner that made Arthur's stomach somersault. "You're mortified! What's rarer than this? The King of Camelot red as a tomato over his ancestry!"

"My salacious ancestry! I can't even begin to imagine how my Court will react to such information! Perish the thought that that would even happen!!" He could just hear the bawdy jokes that would come out of Gwaine...

"You should just embrace it! No one can make a mockery of you if you've accepted it. Why do you think Morgana makes light? Imagine how it sounds laid over a poor woman's shoulders." That was the most reasonable thing Merlin had said in a while outside of average Council meetings, most of their interactions of late being various levels of bickering or heavy bouts of teasing. Far too much teasing. Arthur was beginning to emotionally chafe.

"As if she'd ever take it so serious." He muttered, Merlin flapping his hands at him in a 'there you have it' sort of way.

"If she can refuse embarrassment then so can you!"

"At least she has plausible deniability." Arthur shot back, regretting it instantly.

Merlin looked baffled, one brow raised high. "And what does that mean?"

"Well. She has Guinevere. She's spoken for. There's no talking about her like that at Court when she's already married and off the proverbial market." Arthur shrugged his shoulders, trying to not look as guilty as he was feeling for even letting that much slip. Lord knew how mortifying it would be for Merlin to find out like this... "With me, I've already got enough scrutiny being unwed this long. I can't imagine what slant the Court would take it with my being unwed and-"

"And me being here." The flatness of Merlin's tone made Arthur want to cringe but he resisted the urge narrowly, already in deep enough.

"Forget I said anything about it. It doesn't matter because I have no intention in announcing such a thing, and I hardly think that Morgana will be sharing such information willy-nilly. She knows how to play the game."

The last thing Arthur expected was for Merlin's fingers to bring his chin up, the warlock peering down at him. Trying to get his semblance of personal space back the blonde man shifted backward in his desk chair, giving Merlin a baffled look. Whatever he'd been looking for either hadn't been there or, if it was, wasn't worth pursuing, as he didn't push back into Arthur's space. Shrugging his shoulders slightly the warlock finally spoke again, "It's a shame that you don't."

***

Whatever that had meant it had made the pair of them awkward and distant for weeks. Anything was better than this strange skirting, even the worst of their fighting was more palatable than the inability to meet one another's gaze. So obviously cornering Merlin was the only option.

He's just not entirely sure how they ended up embracing, let alone how the kissing started up. Arthur knew he'd had to keep Merlin from walking off, so he supposed the embrace had started with that thought... but...

The softness of Merlin's mouth distracted him from contemplating things further, the King deepening it as he crowded the warlock more soundly up against the library wall. Merlin's hand slid up into his hair, tugging gently a few times before firming it's grip and pulling Arthur's head back. With the kiss broken by that abrupt move the King's head swam, trying to catch up with the conflicting signals, the warlock's free hand suddenly enthusiastically grabbing his ass.

Pressing a kiss to Arthur's throat Merlin took a moment to catch his breath, nipping at the blonde's chin once his faculties were in order. "You're such an impatient brat. Can't even wait till we've properly made up to go in for the kill."

"Merlin-"

"And wouldn't this all be much more pleasant on a bed? In private? Or do you really want to be had right here in Geoffrey's sacred sanctum?"

"Do _not_ mention Geoffrey when you are talking about carnal activities, you're going to destroy the mood entirely." And Arthur rather liked things as they were, the tension that had been eating away at him gone with this barrier destroyed.

“You’re the one who chose an inconvenient locale for your damn confession you clotpole-“ As if to emphasize that Merlin tugged on Arthur’s hair again, making him gasp. “And what a fine, wordless confession it is.”

“You were trying to slip away, what was I supposed to do?? Just let you!?”

“No, I suppose not.” Merlin huffed, back to kissing the King’s neck with fervor as he ground his hips forward. Arthur could scarcely string a thought together with that sort of thing going on, the blonde squirming and yanking on the Dragonlord impatiently.

“Merlin if you make me wait I swear I’ll have you in the stocks, treaty or no.”

"Is that a promise?" The dark haired man asked sweetly before biting just beneath the turn of his jawline, making Arthur let out an undignified and frankly desperate sound. Did he like to be bit? Was that a thing normal people liked? Any bed fellow Arthur had ever had he'd treated only with gentleness, but maybe that was going the wrong way about it with how hard one scrape of teeth on skin got him.

Finally making use of his hands that had been so uselessly fisted in the sides of Merlin's tunic the King reached down, fed up with being on the back foot. Grabbing the warlock by the thighs he hefted him up and pinned him proper to the wall, Merlin's loosened hold on his hair giving him the leeway enough to bury his face against the infernal man's throat. He needed more control; Merlin was too adept at playing him like a fiddle.

Grinding properly against Merlin he tried his hand at biting his lover, gingerly applying the pressure at first before getting a bit rougher hearing just how the warlock was enjoying it, the hitched moans curling in Arthur's ears and sending shivers down the King's spine. Oh, he definitely needed more of that. Tipping his head up he caught Merlin's earlobe between his teeth, tugging gently as he dug his fingers harder into the warlock's thighs, holding him steady as his hips canted forward needily.

And then the fingers were back, tugging firmly at the hair at the base of Arthur's neck before moving further up for a better hold, halting Arthur's progress utterly. "That's enough of that."

Merlin's voice was just as firm as his grip. But the quality of it: just slightly hoarse, really was what did Arthur in. Very suddenly Arthur understood his ancestry's obsession, the commanding baritone holding his attention utterly. The pinned warlock slowly pulled Arthur's head back again so he could look him properly in the face, taking slow breaths in to quell the ragged tempo his chest was keeping.

"Hold tightly to me, we're going for a ride."

The next thing Arthur knew they were in what he vaguely recognized to be Merlin's chambers, the elaborate tapestry to the left of where he now had the man pinned drifting slightly from the air displacement the two of them had caused. Merlin's hold firmed noticeably again, the pull at his scalp putting his attention squarely back on the warlock from where it'd briefly gone, Merlin slowly looking him over before leaning in and planting a lingering kiss on Arthur's mouth. Arthur was only given a moment to appreciate it, Merlin bucking abruptly and breaking the hold the King had had on his legs, standing back at his full height before proceeding to kiss all sense out of him.

"For once in your life, Arthur, be good for me." The words were barely understandable when they parted, the heat and want that had been steadily stoked in him making it hard to concentrate, Arthur grabbing pointedly onto the Dragonlord and hauling him around. He fully intended to shove Merlin onto the bed; it would take more than a pithy little request to get him to behave. Where would be the fun in just letting Merlin have what he wanted?

The thing was Arthur continually forgot about Merlin being magic and that he was also perfectly capable of being a bastard about it, their places abruptly swapped with Arthur falling back onto the bed now that he was off balance. "Merlin!"

"I asked nicely, clotpole. If you're going to be like that, well, I'll just have to show you how to behave." The Dragonlord replied, smirking as he untied the laces on his jacket, Arthur's gaze following the slow pull of the knot being undone. Oh. Oh that was just _unfair_.

At some point while he was distracted his own clothes had started to disappear; it seemed with each piece of clothing that Merlin removed one of Arthur's own would simply vanish. They'd started small, but once Merlin was down to his tunic and breeches Arthur was nearly bare. Who knew the damn warlock wore so many layers?

"Now then..." Merlin said, reaching out and walking his fingers up Arthur's chest, the touch so light it barely registered. "Where to start with you?"

Arthur wanted to smart off to him, mouth already halfway to doing so when Merlin tweaked his nipple, the King flinching at the sharp touch. Frowning up at Merlin the man in question just grinned in return, thumb tracing over the abused skin before moving on. "Hm, perhaps not there... Maybe... here?"

He'd let his hand go lower, tugging teasingly on the scant few blonde hairs that lead down to disappear beneath the waistline of Arthur's small clothes. His body more than approved of the idea, Arthur fighting down the urge to lift his hips. The damnable man didn't need any more reasons to tease him. "Are you actually after an answer or are you just being a rhetorical bastard?"

The Dragonlord licked his lips and winked in lieu of actually answering, hooking his index and middle finger beneath the thin piece of clothing before up and making it evaporate before Arthur's very eyes. Why did he even bother to ask? Merlin was simply put on the Earth to drive him insane.

Growling low Arthur practically lunged up from his sprawled out pose, grabbing Merlin by the wrists and hauling him down on top of the King with a grunt. Merlin went down laughing, clearly unperturbed by the younger man's temper, breaking Arthur's hold and returning the favor, pinning his wrists to the bed as the warlock kissed him again.

It was really a culmination of everything between them to come to this point, it was as though the floodgates had opened. Ten years of tension unacted upon had them yanking on each other and leaving bruises behind, Merlin biting him more and more it seemed just to leave unsubtle marks to bloom later. With some difficulty Arthur finally finds his hands on Merlin's breeches, snapping the lacing in his hurry as he pushes them down. With some cajoling he gets them aligned, holding their cocks together before pleading for his lover to help out. "Don't go and be useless on me now, Ambrosius. Don't you have a spell up your sleeve for some slick?"

What he got for his trouble was a laugh, Merlin biting his bottom lip and muttering something absolutely unintelligible. Whatever he'd said Arthur felt _something_ slide over his hand and it was good enough for him not to question, his libido too insistent on getting what it wanted so desperately. The first stroke up had him whimpering in delight, the King biting at Merlin's bottom lip as he started an indulgently slow tempo, something that made Merlin growl and squirm. The thrusts of Merlin's hips were throwing things off more and more until it was more like they were grinding their cocks together rather than Arthur stroking them off, Arthur giving up all pretense of motion and just making sure they stayed flush together, his unoccupied hand grabbing at Merlin's ass to urge him faster.

Arthur can't keep his eyes off the warlock on top of him, the flush that had laid itself across his cheeks contrasting beautifully with his creamy skin. There was no more need to break his focus and look away, there in Merlin's room with his Dragonlord in his arms he could look his fill, the man in question beyond compare.

"You're far too coherent..." Merlin groaned, lifting his face and meeting Arthur's gaze, their thrusting finally coming to a stop. "Do I need to do better?"

"What a terrifying thought that this might not be your best." Arthur replied, licking his lips as he leaned in, kissing the Dragonlord with a sigh. Merlin's hands wandered in that idle moment, coming up to card through the King's blonde hair, tugging every now again to tease him further. It was slow to break but when it finally did Arthur looked at Merlin seriously, pressing their foreheads together as he spoke again. "I'll take anything you give, your best, your worst... I just want you."

The silence did not stretch but it made Arthur's nerves spark, Merlin's voice soothing them immediately. "You fool, you've had me from the start. Every bit of me."

Arthur doesn't know what else to do but kiss the older man again, hauling him in and holding him tightly, forgetting the pleasure for the moment and just sinking into Merlin's warmth. 

When they finally come back to what they were doing things take on the fevered pitch again, Merlin pinning Arthur's wrists to his bed as he brought something new to the table, continuing to grind their cocks together as an invisible hand wrapped around the pair of them. The magic didn't quite stop there, Arthur groaning as a phantom cock introduced itself into the mix, the head rubbing up against him before it slid inside. He wanted to smack Merlin for not warning him but it wasn't as though he'd left anything up to chance, Arthur's body giving to the pressure with no discomfort, though he had no idea if there was actual lubricant to the paradigm or if the magic prick that was working to match their motions just was made to give the impression of such a thing. Whatever it was Arthur was rapidly losing his ability to form coherent sentences, let alone any kind of deep thinking, the King begging for release.

"Oh, _Arthur_!" Merlin groaned sharply, surprising his lover by being the first to get there, the magic that was fucking into the King increasing it's tempo and driving him over the precipice, Arthur cumming with a gasp a moment later.

Ignoring the stickiness this was probably one of the most comfortable moments of his life, Arthur reflected, his face buried against Merlin's shoulder as they caught their breaths together. He found himself absently rubbing the warlock's back, the motion so natural that Arthur hadn't the faintest where the impulse had come from. It was like magic, he thought wryly, with how naturally they fit together.

"I hope you've got a cleaning spell in your repertoire... because I don't think I'll be able to make my legs work well enough at the moment to go and get cleaned up."

"Ah, the Pendragons, so regal and responsible... and yet so _lazy_."

"Pot, meet kettle." Arthur chuckled, poking Merlin in the side and making him squawk.

***

They face the court together, announcing their engagement to baffled stares and slackened jaws. Morgana, in her most predictable of moments, leaned over and said conversationally to one of the Ladies how "it was bound to happen".

"It's a Pendragon thing." She elaborated, earning the increasing confusion of the court. "You'll be able to read all about it when we get our copies of the Dragonlord histories. There's a particularly fascinating passage about our great great great grandparents, an Ambrosius, and a duel over her hand. All while they were still married to each other!"

Arthur pressed a hand over his eyes as Merlin squeezed the other, the warlock leaning into his side with a chuckle. "Well, that's one way to break the news."

"I've got such a headache I think I'm growing horns..." Arthur replied, sighing as the court suddenly burst out with loud questions, the Lords and Ladies all clamoring to be the first to pose their burning inquiries. The knights on the other hand just nodded their heads, Gwaine winking at Arthur from across the room as Leon and Percy both dropped coins into his waiting hand.


End file.
